MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolivia considers selling gas to Chile

Bolivian President Evo Morales created a political stir in Chile when he hinted Sunday that his country is considering selling natural gas to Chile, even while admitting that his cabinet is divided over the issue.

Bolivia has consistently denied Chile assess to its vast natural gas reserves, saying a deal could be cut only after Chile grants the land-locked nation access to the Pacific Ocean. Bolivia voted for a "gas for the sea" policy in a national referendum held in 2004. High-level diplomatic relations between the two countries have been severed for decades because of Bolivia's unstinting demand for ocean access, which was lost to Chile in the 1879 War of the Pacific. Still, relations between gas-hungry Chile and sea-less Bolivia have thawed in recent months, ever since the election of Morales in Boliva and Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Chile's Foreign Ministry purchased a house in La Paz in May to serve as the Chilean consulate, signs of the ongoing effort to improve diplomatic relations between the two countries (ST, May 18). "We have different opinions in the cabinet," said Morales in the Sunday interview. "I don't want to say very much, only that I respect everyone's opinions. But mostly I respect the opinion of the people." The president then framed the discussion in terms of necessities, saying that if both countries could get what each needs, a future referendum could decide the matter. Further initiatives, said Morales, will help deal with structural and historical issues that divide the two countries. The Santiago Times